Karen Cox interviewed several granny midwives in Georgia in the early 1970's. They're all gone now, but their wisdom was very beautiful. Mrs. Andy Webb, who delivered over a 100 babies in Rabun County, said, "I had no teaching at all, and I know it was better then because there wasn't near as many women dying then as there is now. They were taken better care of. I can't read or write. What I've got, God gave it to me. And I'm proud of it, and I've saved many a life. What God gives you is right. I never lost a patient because I had the Lord with me, and I was willing and ready to do all I could to save the lives."
They didn't have to have a license when they first began as far back as I can remember- not until later years. And if they didn't have a license, no matter how good they were, they were just completely cut out of the job- weren't allowed to do the job at all."
This is happening in the United States now. If midwives are to become licensed, the standard of care should be balanced between the medical care that can and does save lives, without sacrificing the love good midwives can bring into that care!
I'm truly concerned by what doulas and midwives are NOT being taught today. I know for a fact that a doctor is telling midwives to just sit in a corner and knit, to NEVER tell a laboring woman what to do. Even if she begs to go into the hospital, he's telling "midwives" to ignore her- that her baby will eventually be born without any help from her.
Why even hire a midwife then? Ask your mother or grandmother to help you instead. At least, like the granny midwives of old, they'll try to figure out how to help you.
